In the current funding period of this long-standing training grant, eleven students were funded and four students completed their Ph.D. Overall, since its inception in 1971, the Immunology Graduate Program at the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) has awarded 88 Ph.D. degrees. Our graduates have obtained high quality positions in academic, clinical, industrial and governmental research settings. The Training Grant Faculty is comprised of 14 members providing expertise in teaching and in highly relevant research areas of immunology, including microbial immunity, cancer immunology and immunotherapy, vaccine development, autoimmunity, allergy, mucosal immunology, immunoregulation and lymphocyte development. Furthermore, the facilities at UCHC for application to research projects and for student training in modern techniques are state-of-the-art. Thus, our institution and our faculty continue to provide the breadth and depth in immunology research required to train and produce successful scientists. As in the past, the central focus of our program will be to train students to become independent investigators and educators who-will contribute importantly to expanding knowledge in the areas of basic and/or applied immunology. This goal will be achieved by formal coursework, research seminars, supervised thesis research, individualized instruction and guidance, formal presentations at journal clubs, biannual progress reports, attendance at scientific meetings and writing manuscripts. The training obtained through this tested program with the help of this training grant will not only give the student a strong foundation in modern laboratory techniques but will help to develop his/her ability to conceive and solve experimental problems to critically evaluate data;and to effectively communicate information verbally and in writing.